PART 4

Maandag 20 juni 2010

After breakfast and coffee we walk up to Province House, where in 1864 representatives of the British North American Colonies assembled to talk about an autonomous confederation. The Confederation came into effect in 1869, but Prince Edward Island refused to join from the start as it did not agree with the terms. On ly when the federal government had promised to take over the debt incurred in connection with the construction of a railroad network did PEI budge. Negotiations with the United States had already reached a deadlock. We walk to the Roman Catholic basilica from 1919. It is a neogothic construction with all the trimmings. In King Street we see fine residential buildings from the 19th century. Again we notice how friendly people are around here. Car drivers stop as soon as they suspect that you might want to cross the street and everyone we pass says hello. We walk towards the waterfront. Here a stage is being set up for the Summerfest of Charlottetown, at which the world famous Cirque du Soleil from Montréal will put in appearance. We continue in a northwesterly direction passing Victoria row with a row of stone houses. We end up at Beaconsfield House, built in 1877 for a ship building tycoon, called James Peak. He went bankrupt just before the building was completed. It is now in the hands of a historical foundation, that keeps it accessible to the public. Across the road is PEI's lieutenant-governer's residence. 

We walk  back to the B&B to pick up the car. We are going to drive the Central and Coastal Scenic Drives, part of it that is. We drive off in a northerly direction to Stanhope on to the PEI-National Park. It is not much more than a narrow strip of land along the north shore of the island, but it is beautiful nevertheless, with lots of birds nesting here near the lakes and wetlands. We get to Dunes Studio & Café. In this unusual designed building there is a lot of applied art on display and for sale. Further up our route is  Rustico Bay and the hamlet of North Rustico. Here is the Fisherman’s Wharf Restaurant, - claiming to be world famous for its lobsers. naar eigen zeggen. We take a Sea Food Chowder. A group of Japanese tourists protected by plastic napkins attack the lobsters head on, making pictures of every phase of their lunch. After lunch we charge on to Cavendish, again through the National Park. From Cavendish we round another bay towards Kensington. The we leave the scenic drive and drive straight to Victoria crossing the island to the south coast. We pick up on the Coastal drive there. Victoria is a quaint little fishing harbour with an old fashioned town playhouse. We drink tea in a classic english tea room before we continue eastwards. At Port La Joye / Fort Amherst National Historic Site we turn off the main road to have look at a lighthouse. We get there via a red dirt road. This red earth is typical for PEI. In this part of the island the first Acadians, French colonists, built there first settlements here in the 16th century.  The British,built their first fortress here in the 18th century. The Acadians were evicted after the British take over, because they refused to pledge their loyalty with the British king. The Acadians ended up as far as Louisiana, which was still French territory back then. We follow the coast line and end up in Charlottetown.

At night we order a pitcher of beer in the Irish pub The Old Triangle. After that we move on to the Maple Grille for a good meal (Erik takes duck breast and I choose scallops in maple sauce).

 

Weather: cloudy starting off cool 14°C/57°F, but later on we have sunny spells and temperatures rise to 22°C/71°F.

 

Tuesday 22 June 2010

Charlottetown - Lunenburg: 349km

After a decent breakfast (Furtada, Italian omelette) we have coffee at Starbucks. We then drive to Wood Islands, where we catch the ferry to Caribou in Nova Scotia. It is 40 minute drive to the ferry port. Then we have to wait quite some time before we can actually board the ship that leaves port at 11.15am. We have booked by phone with Northumbria Ferry Lines and the crossing sets us back $75 for the car and two passengers.

The trip takes about 75 minutes. On the other shore in Nova Scotia we have a long drive ahead of us to Lunenburg. The scenery is much different: lots of forest and not a much farmland. Nova Scotia is hilly, but the hills are not very high. After a good 3 hours we arrive in Lunenburg on the Atlantic coast. Lots of fish restaurants and brightly painted wooden houses that are Unesco's World Heritagelist. We have booked a room at the Kaulbach Inn, a family residence from 1888, and since a couple of years converted into a nice B&B by Simon and Jenny from Derbyshire (England) .

After a short break we explore the harbour front. We sit down for a drink in the Knot, a busy pub just outside the historic centre. After that we have dinner at Rum Runner Inn. I take today's special a Lobster Neptune (half a lobster with scallops, shrimps and rice) , which is excellent.

Weather: misty morning and  15°C/59°. Sunny afternoon and  25°C/77°F

Woensdag 23 juni 2010

Breakfast is served promptly at 8.30 by David. It consists of fruit, an omelette and croissants. After breakfast we explore the little town a bit further. We have a look at the major sights, among which some stately homes and churches. Zwicker House on King Street dates back to 1830 and was bought by John Zwicker six years later. It is a fine example of Victorian architecture. The Zwicker familiy lived there until 1953. After that it served many purposes until it became a hotel in 1982.  The largest church is the anglican St John (1840) a stately neogothic church with fine steeples. The Anglican pride inspired the Lutherans to build their own grand church in 1890, also in neogothic style. At the harbour front is the  Fisheries Museum of the Altlantic, which we visit. There is  a large aquarium and a number of room documenting the fisheries on the Atlantic coast of Nova Scotia. Most important part of the museum are the ships moored to the quay in front of the museum. The most famous is the tall sailing ship Bluenose II, a replica of a 18th century original. Next to it are a couple of motor vessels from the early 20th century, like the  Thereses E. Connor. After the museum we drive to Mahone Bay , once a beautiful fishing village on a bay. The misty weahter makes it a bit less pretty than in the tourist brochures. We drive on to  Chester. Also a fishing village, now completely taken over by retired Navy people, who have bought cottages here and done them up. The real estate agent takes a central position on the village High Street. We have lunch in a sandwich shop, where the tv is tuned to football. The English expats follow the match of England vs Slovenia, which England wins by the skin of their teeth. We drive south now to Liverpool. A quiet fishing village with some nice houses and a picturesque light house, that was decommissioned 21 years ago. Then it starts to rain seriously and we drive back through the fog to Lunenburg.

At night we eat a decent meal at The Knot, the local pub, where everyone seems to be goint tonight. Good atmosphere.

Weather: mist and rain. 14°C/57°F

Thursday 24 June 2010

Lunenburg - Halifax: 96km

After breakfast, served by David in not so efficient and unique way, we are off to Halifax. The weather looks bleak and the closer we get to Halifax, the thicker the fog. In Halifax we find the Lord Nelson Hotel, a good business hotel on the edge of downtown. We are on our way to explore. WE first go to the Citadel of Halifax, the main sight. The fortress is the fourth one on this spot. The present fortification is 18th century. Halifax was an important stronghold for the British in Norht America, especially during the 7 year war against France and during the years after the American revolution. The fortress is strategically located on top of a hill. It controls the ice free harbour, but its defences were primarily directed to the land side against the USA.  Wether it would have worked we do not know, because the citadel was never attacked in its present layout. The citadel was decomissioned after World War II when it was handed over to Parks Canada as a national heritage monument. The staff - including the "soldiers" - are supplied by an historical foundation. The "soldiers' march around to their heart's content and there are several bagpipe players. The regiment is clothedl in uniforms of the Scottish Highlander brigade as the were around 1870. The regiment was raised in Scotland and was stationed here. The uniform includes a kilt and bagpipes were played in the regimental band. This was meant to appease Scottish landless peasants in the Highlands who had been driven of their land by the absent landowners who thought more money could be made by herding sheep in stead of farming a small freehold.

The noon gun is fired at noon every day and has been for centuries. In the old days it was a way to remind the inhabitants of Halifax of the time. It has been fired since the 18^th century on a daily basis, excluding Christmas day. During today's ceremony something goes wrong and we witness a "miss fire". A second attempt is made. For determination of the time of day this does not matter: "It is not noon, until the Noon Gun has been fired". After the shot the regimental band pulls of a bagpipe concert. We follow the guided tour through the citadel and see the soldiers quarters, the guard rooms, the moat and tunnels.  We go back for lunch in the hotel and to watch the third game of the Netherlands agains Cameroon (2-1) at the World Cup football. After the match we have dinner at an Italian restaurant nearby, Il Mercato. Fine food: veal cutlet and pizza. After dinner we explore downtown Halifax. We first go the Grand Parade, the central square of 18^th century Halifax. Here is the war memorial and the St Paul’s church, an anglican basilica. We walk to the Province House, which serves as film set this evening. Then on to the Freak Lunchbox, a  hip hop candy store and party accessories shop. We walk on towards the harbour where we drink coffee at  Perks, a good coffee shop, only Canadian (The place expresso yourself) . We walk on to the Historic Properties. This is a an old harbour front area with warehouses, offices and trade houses, which has been transformed to a shopping district and nightlife area. At the waterfront we see a collection of old war ships visiting Halifax for the participation in a Naval show attended by the Queen on the occasion of the 100th birthday of the Canadian Navy. We end the evening with a visit to the Irish pub, The Old Triangle (yes, the same as in Charlottetown).

Weather: early morning fog, but increasingly warmer in the afternoon:  14°C/57°F, but sunny afternoon: 21°C/70°F

Friday 25 June 2010

Halifax - Newark - Amsterdam - Rotterdam: 10,25 hours flight, 15 hour journey

We have breakfast in the hotel's Victoria Arms Pub. We could have opted for the continental breakfast buffet, but here we have "cooked" breakfast items on the menu like eggs in any style or combination and pancakes.  After breakfast we wallk from the hotel to the Starbucks on  Spring Garden Road. After coffee we continue to the St Paul’s Church on Grand Parade. The church is now open. It is the first protestant church in Canada and dates back to the late 18^th century. It is als the oldest building in town. On the inside the church is - apart from the stained windows - quite austere. There is a balcony, supported by pillars. The pillars are "plastered" with plaques commemorating famous Halifaxers. This is the church the Royal Family visits when they are in Nova Scotia. From the church we walk to  Province House, the province's parliament holds its sessions. It is the oldest legislative building in Canada. It has a perfect symmetry in its neoclassical facade. Charles Dickens visited Halifax in 1842 and called it a gem of Georgian architecture. We are guided through the building by a friendly young man provided as a guide by the province for free.  Het knows a lot about the parliamentary history of Nova Scotia and the building itself. He shows us the former Senate room (since 1969 Nova Scotia has a single chamber parliament) and the Assembly Room, where parliament meets. It has 51 seats. We also get to see the parliamentary library. It once served as a court of law. In this room newspaper publisher Joseph Howe was tried for slander after he had published a letter criticising the financial management of the city of Halifax in 1835.  Denied the right of an attorney he still won the argument with a six hour uninterrupted speech and made a decisive step towards freedom of the press in Nova Scotia. A year later he was elected into the Assembly as the leader of the Liberal Party. During the formation of the Canadian confederation he was on the "wrong side". He opposed a autonomous Canadian confederation was side tracked politically. In the former Senate room we are pointed to a set of portraits of King Charles I and his daughter in law Catherine of Braganza. They were gifts from the British government and until recently everyone thought they portrayed Charles and his wife Henrietta Maria. In the early years of the 21^st century a librarian found out the the British had sent the wrong portrait. 

From the parliament building we walk to the waterfront. We see an US aircraft carrier ship entering the harbour. It is here to join the celebrations for the 100^th anniversary of the Canadian Navy. Halifax is the major Navy strongholds of the country and the birthplace of the Canadian Navy. The festivities will really get started on Monday and will include a naval review attended by Queen Elisabeth herself. We have light lunch in the Victoria Pub of the hotel and take the car to the Halifax Stanfield International Airport it is a 30 minute drive which involves crossing a toll bridge. We can just scrape enough Canadian coins from our wallets to pay the 75 cent toll. At the airport we return the car and check our bags at the Continental Airlines counter for our flights to Newark and Amsterdam. We have to go through US immigration who have a forward posting here in Halifax. On our way out we had to fill out the green immigration form (Visa Waiver programme) - despite our prior  online ESTA-registration. We assume we have to do that here too, but the officer says it is not necessary and that our online registration is valid for two years. He then throws our green forms in the bin.

Our flight to Newark in the tiny NJR Embraer aircraft is ok. At Newark we take the internal Continental bus from terminal A to terminal C, thus avoiding leaving and re-entering the security checked area. During the pre-boarding check of our boarding passes the attendant is adamant to see the stub of our green immigration form, which we do not have. We are able to convince her that we do not need it. 

We arrive early in Amsterdam, but - for logistical problems - we have to wait quite a while for Erik's suitcase. When it finally appears on the conveyor belt we are just in time for the Fyra high speed train to Rotterdam. It gets us to Rotterdam within 25 minutes. The taxi we pre-ordered from the train is waiting for us at the station to take us home.

Weather in Halifax: sunny 29°C/84°F